Chapter 3: Into the Twilight
Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.
The Doctor gasped as the warm, clear liquid was dumped over his body. He couldn't help but let out a great sigh as feeling and control returned to his body. "Ah! There we go! Good to have you back, mobility!" the Doctor exclaimed as he stretched his four legs. A campfire was situated in front of him and Midna sat on the other side, a angry look etched into her face. "Midna Wolfsbane." The Doctor sat down in his selected seat and eyed the Nymphadorian. "I'd say that it's nice to see you again but I can't really say that since you tried to kill Twilight Sparkle the last time we met and now you've gone and turned my friends into living statues."
Midna glanced at the group of paralyzed soldiers, which included Derpy, Marcus, and Sylvia. "You can blame yourselves for that. You walked into our security field," Midna stated with a cold shrug of the shoulders.
"I suppose you've laced that area with some sort of substance that causes paralysis of the body."
"Juice of the Dead Orchid. It comes in handy when dealing with unwanted visitors that wish to bring harm to me and my tribe."
"Well I can assure you that my friends and I are no threat to you."
"Says the pony who brought the Spark to Nymphadora."
"I swear by the stars of this galaxy and all beyond it that I nor Twilight Sparkle were aware of this whole Spark business. We never intended for the Twilight King's return."
Midna grabbed a nearby cup and took a sip of the steaming liquid within. "And yet half the planet is cloaked in twilight and Dusk himself resides just beyond those borders."
"If it weren't for Twilight Sparkle, this whole planet would be cloaked in twilight by now. The unicorn you tried to murder a month ago is the last thing preventing that twilight from expanding over here."
"What I attempted to do was for the safety of my people and my planet. It was nothing personal."
"Sorry but that doesn't make what you tried to do any less serious."
Midna shrugged her shoulders. "Fair enough. So how about you explain to me about your little mixed bag?"
The Doctor looked over at the frozen soldiers before turning back to Midna. "They're helping me get to Dusk so that I can seal him away once again, rescue Twilight, save Nymphadora, and hopefully bring an end to this war."
Midna glanced at the Doctor's group again and laughed. "To think, I never imagined seeing Nymphadorians, Ruleonites, and Auranians working alongside each other again."
"This group's been together for a while now."
"So what was your plan, Doctor? Fly into the twilight and defeat the Twilight King on a whim?"
"Not necessarily. I was going to travel to Dusk's castle in my ship and use a pair of powerful items I recently gained possession of to defeat him."
"Ship? Are you by chance referring to that blue box?"
"I am."
"And you expect to bring your entire group with you in that little box?"
"Don't judge things so quickly, Midna Wolfsbane. It may not look like it, but my ship has enough room in it for a whole army and then some."
Midna gave a quick, amused smile. "And what of these objects of yours?"
"Do you really need to know all of the details? Just trust me! I'm the Doctor. I'm going to defeat the Twilight King, rescue my friend, and save these three rocks once and for all! That's all you need to know!"
Midna gave a snarky smile at the Doctor. "Well, Doctor, if you're so confident in your abilities and tools then you probably don't need your ship anyway," she said.
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"You already have a spaceship. A ship like that can most certainly get you to your destination." Midna took another sip from her drink and leaned back slightly. "Let's make a deal, Doctor. You defeat the Twilight King and destroy the twilight curtain and you get your ship back."
"Deal."
"Hmm. You were pretty quick to answer."
"There's nothing to debate. It's true. The ship my friends and I already have can most surely get us through the twilight." The Doctor quickly eyed the still-frozen soldiers. "I do hope you'll unfreeze my friends."
"Certainly."
"And they'll be needing their weapons back, though I wish we didn't have to use them. There's going to be lots of danger waiting for us beyond that curtain, I predict."
"They can have their weapons as long as you can promise me that there won't be a sudden backstabbing and your soldiers decide to attack my tribe to get your blue box back."
The Doctor looked back at Derpy, Marcus, Sylvia, and the soldiers and met them dead in the eyes. "They won't. There's been enough bloodshed in this war. We'll all obey your terms."
The Doctor returned his gaze to Midna and the two locked eyes for a brief moment. Eventually, Midna let out a long, deep sigh and waved one of her claws. A few members of her tribe approached the Doctor's frozen militia with large buckets in hand. In a swift movement, a wave of clear liquid was thrown over them. Within seconds, the group was moving, groaning, and stretching their previously paralyzed appendages.
Derpy flew over to the Doctor and hugged him. "It feels so good to move again!" she exclaimed.
Another portion of Midna's followers appeared with Sylvia's militia's weapons in their possession. "Remember your word, Doctor," said Midna.
The Doctor nodded and turned to Marcus and Sylvia. The soldiers nodded in reply. "No backstabbing attacks. We've got it," the Doctor replied.
Midna waved her claw and her followers approached Sylvia's militia and returned their weapons. The soldiers definitely looked happy to be reunited with their weapons. "We better move out then," said Marcus. He glanced at Midna. "That is if we're allowed to leave yet." Midna began to walk up the hill towards Sylvia's parked spaceship. The Doctor, Derpy, Marcus, Sylvia, and the others followed.
Midna had ordered her followers to dump more of the clear liquid over the area around Sylvia's ship to prevent any further accidental exposure to the Dead Orchid juice. The entrance ramp to the ship opened up and everybody began to board. "It shouldn't take us long to get to Lupae in my ship," said Sylvia with a confident grin.
"Remember, we have to pass through the twilight as well...and I think there's definitely more than the Twilight King waiting for us in there," said the Doctor.
"I am well prepared for any threats that may come our way. Thank you, Doctor." Sylvia boarded the ship with Marcus not too far behind.
"I'm a bit worried about leaving the TARDIS here with her," Derpy said.
"Don't worry, Derpy. Nothing's going to happen to our favorite blue box," said the Doctor. He suddenly turned back towards the TARDIS, pointed his sonic screwdriver at it, and activated the device. The TARDIS vanished from view, causing some disturbance amongst Midna and her tribe.
"What trickery is this, Doctor?!" Midna snapped.
"No trickery at all," the Doctor replied as he tossed the screwdriver in the air. "My ship's still there. It's just a second out of sync." He pointed the screwdriver at the spot where the TARDIS was and activated it, thus bringing the TARDIS back. He then repeated the process to have the TARDIS disappear once more. Midna gave an icy, unsure glare in the Doctor's direction. "I swore no backstabbing, remember?"
Midna's stare became less angry but remained just as serious. "I'm not sure if I can trust you entirely, Doctor."
"Ah. I can say the same thing. Why do you think I decided to keep it out of sync? I mean, no offense...kinda, you and your people couldn't get into my ship no matter how hard you tried but a few extra safety measures never hurt." The Doctor tossed the screwdriver in the air again before storing it in his pocket.
"You best not fail Nymphadora, Doctor. If you do not succeed in living up to your promise and doom my planet...I'm coming for you."
"I wouldn't expect anything less." The Doctor gave a respectful nod of his head to Midna before turning to Derpy. "Come along, Derpy Hooves. We've got a planet and a friend to save." Derpy wrapped one of her wings around the Doctor as he and her turned and boarded Sylvia's ship.
An hour after departing from Midna's camp, Sylvia's ship was flying through Nymphadora's lower atmosphere. The shadows of defensive satellites loomed overhead and the blurry mesh of colors that was Nymphadora's surface lay below. Sylvia intentionally kept the ship from going at its greatest speed, which could have gotten them to the twilight curtain in mere minutes, in order to save the fuel for the final shot to Dusk's base in Lupae. Everypony on board was keen on spending as less time traveling through the twilight as possible.
Even at the relatively "slow" speed the ship was traveling at now, it was still a fairly bumpy ride. Derpy was holding onto the wall tightly as many levels of uneasiness were coursing through her body, making her feel somewhat nauseated. "You feeling okay?" the Doctor asked at one point when he returned from having a conversation with Marcus.
Derpy forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah...just fine," she replied.
"Really? Because you look about as green as lettuce right now." Derpy's face grew hot and she couldn't help but blush. "And now you're beginning to look like a salad."
Derpy gulped hard and shook her head. "Okay. I'm feeling nervous."
The Doctor wrapped a foreleg around her and pulled her in close. "No need to feel bad about it." He leaned in close to her until his mouth was next to her ear. "To tell you the truth, I'm pretty sure a fair amount of the soldiers in here with us are about as nervous as you are."
Derpy's ears perked up. "Really?!"
The Doctor smiled at her and nodded. "Oh yeah! Though, they're loads better at hiding it." Derpy pictured her own blushing, nauseated face and smirked nervously.
Suddenly, the spaceship began to slow down until it was moving no faster than a strolling pony. "There it is," said Sylvia.
Derpy and the Doctor approached the front of the ship and stared out the front window. Derpy gulped in response to what she saw. A towering wall of dark purple energy stood before them. It seemed to stretch on forever to the left and right and it rose high into Nymphadora's atmosphere. At some points it looked as rowdy as an oncoming sandstorm and at others it looked as still and stern as a wall of thick glass. Shadows moved about within the realm of twilight and various lights could be seen flickering on and off at certain areas. The silhouettes of mountains, hills, and various other landmarks could just be barely made out.
"Looks just as welcoming as I pictured," Marcus stated with a chuckle.
"Sylvia, is this ship ready to make a mad dash for Lupae?" the Doctor asked.
A short laugh escaped Sylvia's lips. "Of course. I've been going moderately slow and saving up energy for a reason, Doctor," the Auranian replied.
Derpy looked at the Doctor and he faced her. "Derpy...you should probably begin holding onto that wall again." Derpy nodded and felt another rush of nausea as she returned to the wall and grabbed onto it.
"Is everybody ready?" Marcus asked as he turned back towards the others.
"READY!" replied the militia.
Marcus turned back to Sylvia and chuckled. "You heard them, dear."
Sylvia clasped one of her hands on a green and red lever. "Let the insanity begin," she said. The Doctor grabbed onto the opposite wall to where Derpy was holding on. Derpy gulped again and a shiver ran down her spine as Sylvia began to push the lever forward. "Here. We. Go."
Sylvia slammed the lever forward and, for a second, nothing happened. A calm hum moved through the ship and seemed to phase through Derpy's body as well as the bodies of everypony else. Then a powerful boom emanated from the back of the ship and a great shockwave passed through everypony on board. The ship shot forward like a bolt of lightning. The purple, dark landscape of Nymphadora beneath them, from the POV of Derpy's view through the front window, appeared to disintegrate and splash around like water colors. The curtain of twilight rushed towards them liked a hungry monster and the ship cut through the barrier like a new kitchen knife through melting butter.
Upon entry, Derpy couldn't make out anything within the twilight world that lay outside the ship. Dark shapes and purple mist moved past and swirled about like vapor emanating from hot water being poured on ice. Faint cries and roars could be heard passing by the exterior of the ship. The warped twilight sky bent and twisted like gelatine. The ship was moving at such great speeds that there was no time to hone in on any landmark or object within the twilight.
This continued for several minutes. The ship shook like it was sitting above the epicenter of an earthquake and the world that was King Dusk's twilight realm could be seen through the front window passing by like flying cans of paint. Derpy closed her eyes and tried her best to calm down the violent butterflies punching the sides of her stomach. Her legs ached, her stomach growled sickly, and weak groans escaped her mouth. Within the mixture of sounds of Sylvia's spaceship racing through the air like a exploding rocket, Derpy heard the sound of hooves on metal racing towards her. This was soon followed by the feeling of two forelegs wrapping around her and warm breath moving down her neck. She opened her eyes and looked to see the Doctor holding onto her tightly, a comforting smile on his face and a confident spark in his eyes.
"Feel better?" the Doctor asked.
Derpy blushed but ultimately ignored her embarrassment, threw caution to the wind, and held the Doctor close. She and the Doctor continued to hold onto the wall and each other as the ship bounded through the twilight. "Not that much further to go," said Sylvia as she held the controls tightly.
Suddenly, the ship jerked violently and and flew diagonally downwards. Sylvia regained control and aimed the ship forward. "What was that?!" the Doctor asked.
"I think something hit us," said Marcus. The ship jerked again and, this time, the movement was joined with a loud clang. Sylvia managed to regain control but something was definitely wrong.
The Doctor's ears perked up and his eyes widened. "Something's grabbed onto the outside of the ship!" the Doctor announced.
"That's impossible!" Sylvia stated. "We're going faster than the speed of sound! Nothing could grab onto the outside of a ship going as fast as us!"
Just then, the sound of heavy clawing emanated from the roof. The Doctor and Sylvia quickly exchanged glances. "You were saying?" the Doctor asked.
A chilling bang reverberated from above and the back of the ship tilted slightly, causing it to shoot up higher into the atmosphere. Sylvia attempted to once again retain control but the ship wasn't following her commands with such ease anymore. "I think we've taken more external damage than we think," said Sylvia as she tried to level the ship out.
Derpy's ears perked up and she looked towards the ceiling where the sound of clawing and growling was growing louder and closer with each second. The soldiers held their weapons tightly and appeared to prepare themselves for a fight. The Doctor held Derpy close and she tightened her grip on him and the wall in response. "Need some help?" Marcus asked as he reached over and grabbed onto Sylvia's controls. With their combined strength, Marcus and Sylvia managed to level out the ship.
Sylvia smiled at Marcus. "Thanks."
Marcus winked at Sylvia. "What would you do without me?"
Sylvia let out a quick giggle. "LOOK OUT!" yelled the Doctor. Derpy looked out the front window along with Sylvia and Marcus. A medium-sized, metallic object raced towards the ship. Sylvia tightened her grip on the controls and aimed downwards but it was too late. The object smashed into the front of the ship, cloaking the front window in oil, metal sheets, and an assortment of various materials. Sylvia fought with the controls as the ship began to lose altitude.
"We're heading down!" Sylvia warned as she continued to fight the rebel controls.
Derpy's ears jerked again as the clawing sounds appeared to be immediately above her and the Doctor. "Doctor!" she gasped as she looked at the ceiling. The Doctor followed her gaze and, as both she and him looked at the ceiling, four massive claws pierced through the ceiling and ripped a massive chunk off. Powerful gusts blew into the ship and a mixture of debris, smoke, and clouds began to contaminate the air. Derpy felt her voice escape her as she looked at the creature looking down through the hole. It resembled a scorpion except it had a head that looked an awful lot like one of the heads of Cerberus as well as had a pair of muscular arms that each ended in four, sharp claws. It had ten yellow eyes and rivers of drool dripped from its gaping mouth.
"FIRE!" ordered a Ruleonite soldier as he and the others in the militia began firing at the creature in the hole.
Derpy finally let out a loud scream as the projectiles smashed into the creature's body. A black liquid splattered onto the upper walls of the inner ship and the creature let out a pained roar. The Doctor grabbed Derpy's head and held it close to him. "Don't look at it, Derpy! Everything's going to be alright! Just hold onto me and everything's going to be alright!" he ordered.
Derpy nodded and closed her eyes. She folded down her ears to somewhat muffle the sounds of roaring, blowing air, and bullets being fired. Eventually she heard both Marcus and Sylvia yell, "BRACE YOURSELVES!"
For a split second, everything seemed to slow down to a snail's pace. Sound vanished and everything became still. Derpy gasped as she held onto the Doctor as tightly as she could manage, unintentionally squeezing some of the air out of him in the process. Then...the spaceship collided with the earth.